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Eulogy For a mermaid
Photographed by Jeff Berting
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With little more fanfare than a glass raised in the air, a Hermosa Beach icon shuttered for good in July. For those of us who work or play on the Hermosa Beach Pier, the Mermaid was more than a bar or restaurant. It was standing tradition.
The people pictured in those dusty photos on the walls got quite a show over the venue’s nearly 60-year history. In those vinyl booths and standing at the bar were a cast of characters worth a Eugene O’Neill play (with a salty dash of Melville and Steinbeck).
Soon those photos, the booths, the walls and the rest will be leveled for a new hotel project hoping to capitalize on that prime, beachfront access. Thus we drown our sorrows … in a glass filled by a bartender who won’t make you a scotch on the rocks even though you ordered a cosmo. We wish he would. That was classic Mermaid.
We asked a few local residents to compose their own eulogy to this lengendary watering hole—a fond farewell for a familiar friend. Cheers, Mermaid, and thanks for the memories.
I have so many memories I started going to the Merimaid in my 20's now 63- I remember Boots sitting at the end of the bar doing crossword Puzzle's in his Alpaca sweater! I will miss the Scrimp and baked Potato with a Salad with Blue Cheese and Rye crisp with Butter Please! 1 Martini with 2 olives - than a glass of the house Red - We would have parties in the backroom and drive the bartenders nuts for a week prior to the party calling to make sure everything was set...
Let's not forget while dating my husband that's the place we would go to have dinner and drinks - than we spent Anniversary's at the Mermaid and Family Birthday's....
I also want to mention Kelly the waitress she was a big part of the Mermaid as well as Steve who parked our cars and watched over them.
WOW!
J.Z.